COVID-19 Controversial Rescue Operation: Kwara PDP Wants Health Commissioner Punished

By Steve Oni, Ilorin

The Kwara state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called for stiffer punishment for the state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr Raji Rasaq over the alleged poor handling of a suspected COVID-19 case in Ilorin, the state capital.

The major opposition party, which faulted Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s order to sack a government driver that attended to a person evacuated with a COVID-19 ambulance in Ilorin, said the governor erred in ordering the sack of the innocent driver, who was only acting on instructions from his superior.

A statement by the party’s spokesman Tumde Ashaolu said: “Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq erred in directing the sack of the innocent and ignorant driver, who obviously acted on instructions from his superior(s). There is, therefore, no genuine justification for terminating his job.

“The Kwara PDP notes that the driver was simply used by the state government as a sacrificial lamb to deflect criticism about its ineptitude, failure and irresponsibility. We therefore demand that the governor should take responsibility for the avoidable embarrassing incident that has turned Kwara into a laughing stock.

“While we welcome the suspension of the permanent secretary of the state’s ministry of Health, we believe this isn’t enough. The commissioner who oversees the ministry that failed to provide the needed orientation, training and protective equipment to its staff, should also be held to account.

“It is worrisome that a government that claimed to have invested over N8b on the health sector failed to provide the required training and protective tools to its staff, which makes them vulnerable to danger.”